Tag: virginia beach

This spring, three fellow members of the Hampton Roads American Marketing Association (HRAMA) and I had the chance to volunteer at Triangle AMA’s High Five Conference in Raleigh, NC. We heard rumblings about how great the conference was but it’s safe to say our expectations were far exceeded.

The conference is the place where “marketing and creative meet.” It brings together key industry professionals, provides amazing networking opportunities and most importantly, reignites your creative fire (which, if you’re like me, may have started to look more like a glowing ember).

Jenn and Kyleigh "high five-ing" at High 5!

Jenn and Kyleigh “high five-ing” at High 5!

It’s impossible to reiterate everything we learned but here’s five key takeaways:

  1. People trust other people.

It’s undeniable. According to Scott Monty, principal of Scott Monty Strategies, 83% of people trust recommendations from people they know and 66% trust consumer opinions posted online. Brands need to connect with consumers by being authentic, responsive and compelling. Scott reminded us to refer back to Cicero, “If you wish to persuade me, you must think my thoughts, feel my feelings and speak my words.”

  1. Your haters are your most valuable assets.

By 2020, customer experience will be more important than price. Jay Baer, president of Convince & Convert, stressed the value of “hugging your haters” – every complaint, every channel, every time. 95% of unhappy customers don’t publicly complain. The 5% who do are our biggest asset. They tell us exactly what we’re doing wrong. In the age where customer service is the new marketing, “out-hug” your competition. Show them that you love your customers more than they do.

  1. Ask yourself: if the label falls off, would people still recognize me?

Ann Handley, chief content officer at MarketingProfs, believes your tone of voice is your “gutsiest, bravest asset.” Your biggest missed opportunity is doing what you’ve always done. Your story is what sets you apart and by providing that deeper value to your customers, you’ll ensure they won’t forget you.

  1. What makes you weird also makes you wonderful.

According to Dave Rendall of The Freak Factory, the things we think are wrong with us are what we should brag about. Mediocrity happens when you try to be all things to all people. Own who you are. Stand out. Be different. You can’t be excellent and be normal.

  1. Get to the point.

This piece of advice from Jonathan Opp hit home for me. When I arrived at Rubin Communications, I was shocked to see my first piece of writing returned with red lines running across the page. With years of writing experience, Joel Rubin advised me to get to the point. Jonathan echoed Joel. People have short attention spans. Say big things with small words. Aim for less than 12 words per sentence.

Mark your calendars! Next year’s conference is already booked for March 1-2, 2017. We’ll high-five when we get there.

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Account Manager Jenn Hill poses with the issue of Sports Illustrated that features our client, Macy Causey.

Achieving publicity in a major national publication is wonderful and usually takes time to achieve.

So we were more than pleasantly surprised when Sports Illustrated came through for us and our youngest client, 15-year-old Yorktown race car driver Macy Causey.

Here’s the skinny. 

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by Joel Rubin

RCG Founder and CEO

We may never see a political phenomenon like Donald Trump again. That’s because no one has ever pursued the presidency who was able to combine a self-professed business acumen with lofty reality TV show ratings and the ability to out-talk, if not out-think, everyone else in the room.

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Let me ask you a question, and I need an honest answer.

When is the last time you had new content on your company’s website? It could be a blog post, client success story, new company service or something else entirely.

If the answer is “several months” or, worse yet, “I’m not sure,” then it’s time to freshen up your website with new content.

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Wall Einhorn and Chernitzer (WEC) is well known in Virginia as one of the “best places to work.”

Both Inside Business and Virginia Business magazines have honored the Norfolk accounting firm many times.

For this year’s contest, WEC, for whom we have provided a host of creative public relations services, asked us to produce a video describing why it is such a fine employer.

RCG President Joel Rubin suggested putting the reasons into a poem and have the employees each read a line. Joel quickly knocked out a script. A couple days later, videographer Bobby Cullipher, WEC marketing coordinator Chelsea Moody and Joel were roaming the floor at 150 West Main, grabbing staffers to recite their verses. Even the shy ones had fun. (more…)

by RCG Chief Executive Officer Joel Rubin

When we read the January 4th issue of Inside Business, we saw the previous year pass before our eyes.

Of the magazine’s 15 top stories of 2015, we were involved in one way or another with seven.

(Inside Business lists each story one at a time on its website.)

#1 — Virginia Beach’s adoption of a series of agreements to allow construction of an 18,000-seat capacity arena near the Oceanfront. On behalf of developer ESG, we were involved practically from day one providing a host of services including: (more…)

Extra! Extra!

After 16 months of writing and editing, RCG Vice President Danny Rubin has published Wait, How Do I Write This Email?, a collection of 100+ email and document templates for networking and the job search.

The book is now live and available on Amazon!.

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